You may have considered your dog or cat to be your baby up until now, but there is another human being on the way. It’s normal and actually wise of you to be concerned about how the two will get along. The chances are very good that everything will go smoothly and your child and pet will become close buddies, but there are a few things you can do to prepare.
Some tips for dogs:
In order to teach your dog to stay out of the baby’s room, begin by closing the door when your dog is in the same room as the baby. Later on, you can let the dog in the room, but it is better to prepare him at first by teaching him that he needs to stay out of the baby’s room.
If your dog has never been around a baby, slowly introduce them to a few other infants. Dogs that are introduced slowly to babies are less inclined to be nervous around them. Make sure your dog is well-trained. An infant’s behavior is unpredictable, so your dog must be grown up in this situation.
Before the baby arrives, it’s time to start training your dog, so they can get used to having a new person around. If you haven’t already, you should also consider getting your dog neutered – this will help to make them more calm and docile.
Afterward, if you have a cat, some exact same ideas might work for training them too – except that it’s quite tough to get them to stay out of a room. They can scale cribs and baby gates easily, by the way. So, along with a baby gate, it might be a good idea to buy a net to go over the crib, to keep the cat out.
Additionally, if your cat sleeps with you, do not place them in your bed with the infant in the room. For both kinds of pets, keep the water and food bowl away from the infant. Infants like to play in them, and this can’t just make a mess, but might create the creature to be more jealous.
It’s only natural that your child will want to eat the pet food at some point – I know my kids did! Just be diligent for a little while and everyone will be comfortable with each other. You need to have a happy household, so it’s worth it to put in the effort up front.
